Thought for the week

Each week, I write a little blurb that appears (in slightly different forms) in the parish email newsletter and in our Sunday leaflet. Now that I have a blog, I’ll post them here to, to repurpose the content, to leverage the creativity, to take advantage of synergy, etc., etc. Most weeks, the “thought” is related to the Gospel reading for the week.

One time Jesus encountered a woman at a well. In what could have been an ordinary conversation (except for the fact that Jesus was talking to a woman, and a Samaritan at that), an extraordinary thing happened.

Jesus speaks about “living water.” The woman is understandably confused, and she asks him about the water. He replies, “Everyone who drinks of this water [from the well] will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

That’s how it is for us too.

All the things in our world – friendships, possessions, jobs, and even our families – spring from God. Without God, we will always be thirsty for more. Without God, we will find that our friendships seem wanting, our possessions bring us no comfort, our jobs will not be fulfilling, and our family relationships may be troubled.

God alone is the living water and the bread of life. God alone gives us what we need to live, to feel that this life is satisfying.

If we make time for God only when it seems convenient, or if we come to church only when the weather is not too nice or too lousy, or if we pray only when we are expecting God to bail us out of a problem, then we have not yet begun to drink from the well of living water.

God will love you if you never come to church. You can be a “good” person without being part of a church. But we will not experience the fullness of life in Christ without placing God first and joining in Christian community.

Come to church this Sunday. You can eat the bread of heaven and drink from the cup of God’s love poured out for you and for the whole world. As you delight in God’s presence, let this feed you and quench your thirst for the week to come.